Calling it quits
May 18, 2009
The chief executive of the German bank WestLB resigned Monday in protest at what he said was the refusal of its key shareholders to underwrite new borrowings for his restructuring plans.
About 100 employees demonstrated in support of Hilgert outside the bank in Dusseldorf as members of the state-owned bank's supervisory board arrived for an evening meeting.
WestLB later announced that Hilgert's deputy Dietrich Voigtländer would initially take over. Hilgert had taken charge a year ago after a purge of the previous management.
WestLB, which was hit hard by the global financial crisis, is mainly owned by regional savings banks as well as the state of North-Rhine Westphalia. In recent months the savings banks had objected to providing further financial guarantees for WestLB.
Cutting back operations
Last week the European Commission approved 5 billion euros ($6.8 billion) in state guarantees to the bank, provided it halved the scale of its business by spinning off operations as independent legal entities and selling to new owners by the end of 2011.
North-Rhine Westphalia's finance minister Helmut Linssen said on Monday that the state government had supported Hilgert's plan.
Before bad investments took their toll, WestLB operated worldwide. It is the third-largest "landesbank" or state bank in Germany.
mrm/ipj//dpa/AFP
Editor: Nancy Isenson